Electric cigar-lighter.



H. G. WEEKS. ELECTRIC clGAR LIGHTER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 5, 1912.

1,114,207, Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

'rg/5 E tofore, but "tory character, and without danger of over- OF CHICAG, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 NEW ERA MFG. CO., OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC CIGAR-LIGHTER.

Specification of Lttersllatent.

Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

Application led August 5,.-1912.' Serial No. 713,329.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, HARRYG. WEEKS, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Electric CigarlLighters, of which the following is a speciand highly efficient electrical cigar lighter of the foregoing general character.

Special objects are to provide struction and arrangement whereby suficient heat is produced with a heating unit operating at a lower temperature than hereof a more durable and satisfacheating and burning out, wherebythe life o the most vital part of the cigar lighter 1s increased;

the heating unit 1s embodied in a plug which is easily inserted and removed from the cigar lighter", the latter, for this purpose, being provided a socket having electrical contacts which close the circuit throughthe heating unit lwhen the plug is screwed into place, said plug holding the heating unit in the f a free coil or loop which is practically out of contact with all other parts of the lighter except at the ends or terminals thereof, the said plug being provided with a lateral intake for the air, whereby the current of air enters at one terminal of the heating unit and passes through the convolutions of the latter before encountering the en d of th o the oregoing and other useful ends, matters hereinafter ftioii on line 2`2 in Fig. l.

rises a su port ghly heated substance or a novel conto provide a novel construction' In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the head or upper portion of an electric cigar lighter einbodyingthe my invention, diagram the circuit arrangenient thereof, and the d ead resistance serv.-

as will here- Fig. 2 is a sec- Fig. 3 is a'section on line 3-3 in Fig. l. Fig. 4 i spective of the removable plug containing the heating unit shown in the said figures. A

As thus illustrated, my invention com- A risin from a suitable ase (not s own), provi ed with a hollow ead or casingB, which latter may be reinafter more fully appear.

inovably secured to the said support. Within the said head or casing an electrical socket and the inner central contact c1, the two contacts eing respectively connected with the wires or conductors c2 and o3. The said contacts are insulated from each other in any suita e manner.

The plug D is of porcelain or other suitable insulation, and

is provided at its rear parts. The said plug is also provided with a central or rear vcontact d1, which makes contact with the contact or terminal c1 he socket. rior of said plug is divided into relatively small and large spaces d2 gitudinal a strip of under side a distance.

The heating element E is a loose coil of wire having one end or terminal secured to the contact d, and having its lower end eX- tending through an opening in the rear end of the plug to make connection with the contact al, whereby a closed circuit is provided when the plug is inserted in place. The side of the plug is preferably provided with an opening d", through which the upper terminal of the said coil or heating unit passes in order to make connections with partition wall a, which latter has mica insulation 5 secured to the the contact d, and through which the air the burning out of the heatf ing unit of the cigar lighter,

and da by the 1on-v thereof and vextending forward sov . convolutions passes into the plug and through the, convolutions of the said coil or heating unit. For this purpose, to produce a draft of air through the coil or heating un't, the head or casing B is provided withA an opening b for the admission of air, and with a perforated front plate b1, which latter provides for the escape of the highly heated air. The said coil or heating unit can be of any suitable material, but is preferably of nichrome, as this material or metal oxidizes quickly and readily, and producesl thereby suicient superficial insulation toV perm`t the coils or of the heating unit to contact with each other without short-circuiting the current. The said heating unit is preferably of a comparatively ance is obtained by lengthening the said new one inserted in place thereof.

'cient resistance coil until it presents suiii to enable it to develop the In this way, and by using a heavier wire, the life of the heating unit is greatly increased, and to prevent the same hich would be practifrom burning out, w cally certain yto happen with the ordinary dead resistance F commercial current, the is placed in the in some other portion thereof, and connected in the circuit with the said heating unit. Thus, a sufficient amount of the current is converted into heat for a useful purpose, but at the same time, the strain or wear an tear on the heating unit is much less than heretofore, and with the result that the said heating unit does not break down or deteriorate as quickly as would be the case with heating' units of more delicate character o heating unit or required heat.

the kind heretofore employed for this purpose. As thewire used for the heating unit is of comparatively heavy gage, itl does not tend to chill or cool olf, as a result of the inux of cold air through the openings d and d, and suicient heat is absorbed by the air to enable it to ignite the cigar, which latter is ,presented in the slightly concave end or seat formed at the outer end of the head or casing of the lighter.

The plug D is of exceedingly cheap and economical character, and when the heating lunit E breaks or becomes worn out, the said removed or thrown away and a The mica sheet or insulation d keeps the coil or heating unit from becoming displaced, and serves to the aperplug can be hold it in position near tures of the front plate'of the. latter. It will be understood, of course, that the said plug D will work in any position-that is to say, it does not need to be rotated until the inner parts thereof are in the position shown in Eig. l, as it can be inserted and rotated until the contacts of the socket and plug close the electrical circuit, and the exact position of the plug inv this 'respect is unimportant.

large gage wire,

base of the cigar lighter, or.

. plus,

The metallic contacts and circuit conductors of the structure may known or approved material, such as brass or copper, and can be formed or secured in lacein any desired manner.

With a circuit of the standard character, say, 110 volts, the heating unit may consist of enough wire of said gage to give approximately 25 ohms resistance, and the dead resistance is substantially the same. This, however, may be varied without departing 'from the spirit of my invention, as by crowding the convolutions closer together. A coil or heating unit of greater resistance may be employed without increasing the size of the lighter, and thereby reducing the be of ,any suitable,

amount of dead resistance necessary to pro- I tect the heating unit. This method involves some waste of current, of course, but/this is far less than the cost and -inconvenience of vrenewing the heating unit as often as was heretofore necessary.

What I claim as my 1. An electric cigar lighter comprising a screw threaded socket and electrical connection therefor,a plug removably screwed linto said socket, a in said plug, and a perforated plate for vkeeping the cigar out of heating unit, permitting the escape from the plug, said plug having an opening for the admission of air.

2. An electric cigar lighter comprising a screw threaded socket and electrical connection therefor, a plug removably screwed into said socket, a heating un`t contained in said a perforated plate cigar out of contact with said heating unit', permitting the heated air to escape from the plug, the said plug having anop'ening for the admission of air, said heating unit consisting of a free coil of wire in the form of a loop, one terminal of said coil passing through the rear end of said plug, and the other terminal thereof passing through the said opening, and contacts on said plug for said terminal.

3. An electric cigar lighter comprising a screw threaded socket and electrical connection therefor, a plug removably screwed into said socket, a heating unit contained in said plug, a perforated plate for keeping the cigar out of contact with said'heating unit, said heating unit consisting of apfree coil of wire in the form ofa loop, one terminal of said coil passing through the rear end of said plug, and passing through the side of said plug, contacts on said plug for said terminals, and a wall of insulation extending between the two sides of said loop.

4. An electric cigar lighter comprising a screw threaded socket and electrical connection therefor, a Aplug removably screwed l into said socket, a heating unitcontained in invention is:

for keeping the the other terminal thereof unit, said heating unit consisting of said plug, a perforated plate for keeping and a resistance in circuit with the contacts the clgar out of contact .with said heating of said socket, inclosed within the chamber a free of said body, said circuit passing through coil of one terthe Walls of said lug. minal of said coil passing through the rear A device o the character set forth, plug, and the other terminal comprising a socket, a plug therefor, nthereof passing through the side of said sertible therein, provided with an air inlet p1 on said plug for said termidisposed in position not to be closed by said nal, the bend of said loop being disposed socket when the plug close to the back of said plate, and said lug a heating unit in said aving an opening for the admission o air ing -an outlet for the heated air. at one terminal of said heatlng unit. Slgned by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 31st day of July 1912.

HARRY G. WEEKS.

an electrical socket, a plug provided with a hollow body having air ad- Witnesses: mission and outlet openings, said lug hav- J. NoRBY, ing an end contact and athreaded) contact, GEO. F. SCHMIDT.

plug,said device havl 

